Detergent Drawer Outlet Layout for Faster Washing Machine Filling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing washing machines face inefficiencies in rapidly supplying the required total amount of liquid to the laundry, leading to tedious water filling processes and potential damage from detergent contact during drum movement, with residual water issues in narrow pipes requiring additional ventilation lines.
Innovation Solution
The washing machine's bottom surface is divided into inclined partial surfaces, each assigned to a detergent chamber with its own outlet, allowing for rapid water supply through a pre-wash chamber and main detergent chamber, with separate outlet connections to prevent feedback and ensure efficient detergent distribution, and optional separation by ribs to retain larger water volumes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If a single inlet path is used to supply water and detergent, then the structure is simple, but the liquid supply speed is too slow and detergent may contact laundry prematurely
Solution Approach 1:
The bottom surface is divided into multiple inclined partial surfaces, each with its own outlet connection. This segmentation allows simultaneous supply of water and detergent through separate paths, increasing liquid supply speed while preventing premature detergent contact with laundry.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the bottom surface are given different inclinations and assigned to different detergent chambers. This local differentiation enables optimized flow control for each chamber, allowing rapid water supply through the pre-wash chamber region while controlling detergent release timing.
2Reliability
If a bypass with narrow pipes is used to supply water, then detergent contact is prevented, but residual water occupies the path and requires additional ventilation lines
Solution Approach 1:
The ventilation function is extracted from a separate ventilation line and integrated into the detergent supply line itself. By maintaining a larger unoccupied detergent supply line, the system uses the existing structure for dual purposes: detergent delivery and tub ventilation, eliminating the need for additional ventilation components.
3Productivity
If water is supplied rapidly through a large inlet, then liquid supply speed increases, but detergent chambers may overflow
Solution Approach 1:
The bottom surface is segmented into multiple partial surfaces with different inclinations, each draining to separate outlet connections. This segmentation distributes water flow across multiple paths, enabling rapid water supply while preventing concentration of flow that could cause detergent chamber overflow.
Solution Approach 2:
The inclined partial surfaces create dynamic flow control where water naturally directs to different outlets based on chamber filling status. This dynamic drainage system automatically balances water distribution, allowing high productivity while maintaining overflow protection.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution enables rapid and efficient liquid supply to the laundry, minimizing detergent contact risks, reducing wash and rinse times, preventing overflowing, and eliminating the need for additional ventilation lines by maintaining a larger unoccupied detergent supply line.
Implementation Method 1
The bottom surface is divided into partial surfaces (10, 11) which have inclinations differing from the horizontal... towards an outlet connection for a detergent supply line to the tub
Data Source
AI summary
A washing machine with a controllable fresh water intake for at least two detergent chambers which are located inside a housing of a detergent flushing device and which have an outlet for water or the mixture of detergent and water which opens onto a bottom surface of the housing which is inclined towards an outlet connection for a detergent supply line to the tub of the washing machine in which a laundry drum is mounted at least approximately horizontally, the washing machine comprising partial surfaces into which the bottom surface of the housing is divided, the partial surfaces including inclinations differing from the horizontal, the inclinations being differently directed to at least one of the other partial surfaces and each partial surface is assigned to at least one detergent chamber and includes an outlet connection in a lowest region of the partial surface.